Certain chronic diseases destroy the functional cells in affected organs. Mammals with such diseases are often unable to produce proteins or hormones necessary to maintain homeostasis and usually require numerous exogenous substances to survive. Transplanting healthy organs or cells into a mammal suffering from such a disease may be necessary to save the mammal's life. This type of therapy is generally regarded as a last alternative to curing an otherwise fatal condition. Such transplants, however, are often rejected by the body due to an immune response initiated in response to the foreign tissue or cells. Presently, the only recourse to combat this immune response is to administer chronic nonspecific immunosuppression agents. Unfortunately, this only trades the complications of one chronic disease with other complications caused by the immunosuppression agent.
One disease which scientists have attempted to treat with organ and/or cellular transplants but have had very limited success is diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent degenerative disease in mammals. It is characterized by a relative or complete lack of insulin secretion by the beta cells within the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas or by defective insulin receptors.
This insulin deficiency prevents normal regulation of blood glucose levels and often leads to hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis. When administered to a mammal, insulin promotes glucose utilization, protein synthesis, formation and storage of neutral lipids and the growth of certain cell types.